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Kennamer said that the company is encouraging consumers to visit its website, www.LOCcard.com, to recommend merchants that they believe should accept the LOC Card and to 'Like' and 'Follow' the company on its Facebook page and Twitter feed to show support for the new product.

LOC facilitates enrollment in existing merchant loyalty programs

Once merchants understand the LOC program, Kennamer thinks they will be quick to embrace it.

This is important, he said, because a "loyal" customer is 15 times more likely to patronize a business than a customer without a loyalty tie to the business. (Source: Research and market data in The Loyalty Effect, a study of loyalty programs by major U.S. retailers and restaurant chains.)

Merchants are very protective of their customers' information, and whenever possible, they want to have complete control over that valuable information," Kennamer said.

"For merchants, the LOC Card is simply a universal enrollment vehicle into their loyalty/rewards programs," Kennamer said. "The merchants maintain complete control over their sales data and the LOC system has no access to any of that information."

By structuring the system this way, there should be no reason for any merchant not to want to participate in LOC's universal loyalty card program, he said.

"The benefit is that merchants will receive greater consumer participation, and at the end of the day, that's what everyone -- consumers and merchants alike -- wants," Kennamer said. "LOC allows any loyalty system provider to participate and still provide its same services without the fear of competition -- truly a win-win for the entire industry."

Merchants can continue to accept their "branded" cards in addition to the LOC card, should they wish to do so, Kennamer said. The LOC program also allows small businesses with no existing customer loyalty program to start such programs with much less risk and cost -- knowing that it will be much easier to enroll customers through LOC than a stand-alone loyalty-card program, he said.